Chile's constituent Assembly on Tuesday began formal debate on a motion for a new constitution to replace a market-centric one dating from the dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet. The text could reshape the world's largest copper producer.
Upphaflegar áætlanir um þjóðnýtingu námuvinnslu, stofnun einherbergisþings, vatnsréttindi og vernd frumbyggja eru nokkrar af áleitnari tillögunum sem verða ræddar og greiddar atkvæði um á meira en 20 þingfundum þingsins.
"During this time we will see what is really preserved in the proposed constitution," said Maria Eliza Quinteros, president of the constituent Assembly. She noted that the text would face a national referendum planned for September.
The new constitution comes as Gabriel Boric, a 36-year-old leftist former student protest leader, takes office as president in March in what could mark the Andean country's most dramatic political and social shift since the restoration of democracy in 1990.
The new constitution has caused unease among investors and mining companies, challenging the country's market-oriented economic model, which dates back to economists under Pinochet's bloody military rule.
Tillögurnar verða ræddar á næstu mánuðum og þarfnast samþykkis tveggja-þriðju hluta fulltrúa, eða um 103 atkvæða. Ef þeir eru samþykktir munu þeir standa frammi fyrir breytingaferli fyrir aðra lokaatkvæðagreiðslu til að fella þær inn í endanlegan texta. Ef þeim er hafnað munu þeir fara aftur til nefndarinnar til breytinga eða undanþágu.
The prospect of dramatic change in the country has raised some alarm bells among conservatives, though Quinteros sought to allay concerns, saying there was a lot of "misinformation" in the process and that the proposal was in its early stages.
En þessar áhyggjur hafa leitt til þess að stuðningur við ferlið hefur tapast, þar sem könnun Cadem, einkakönnunaraðila, sýndi að hlutfall fólks sem nú hyggst kjósa til að samþykkja nýju stjórnarskrána hefur lækkað úr 56 prósentum í 47 prósent. .
The constitutional body, elected last year, is dominated by independent left-leaning representatives, some of whom grew out of a protest movement that erupted in 2019 over inequality in one of the region's richest countries.
Kenneth Bunker, director of Tresquntos, a consultancy, said it was an important moment to raise "concerns" to avoid "outlandish" motions moving forward and undermining trust in the process. But Bunker still thinks the new constitution will eventually be approved, despite the challenges it will pose to Boris's new government.
"In the short term, if this constitution is approved, the government of Gabriel Bolik will face a real challenge in balancing The social infrastructure of Chile with the current political and economic situation," he said.
